Guarded safety pin construction



y 29, 1952 F. J. VAN DUSEN ET AL 2,604,681

vGUARDED SAFETY PIN CONSTRUCTION Filed March 20, 1950 ATTORNEY Patented juiy 29, 195 2 OFFICE GUARDED SAFETY PIN CONSTRUCTTON derick J. van Dusen, Jackson Heights, N.

and Thomas Gymmer, Jersey 'City, N.-

Application March 20, 1950, Serial'No. 150,602 3 Claims. (01. 24-156) Our invention relates to'a'guarded safety pin construction and more particularly to a novel guard for covering'th'e pointedxend ofia safety pin in the open pingpositionhw j In ordinary. safety pins :gthe pointed -end of the pin is exposed while tthe'pin isin'ot in use and is in the open pin position. The open s'afety pin therefore .presents.a...sharp point which may scratch or punctureltheiskini while the pin is being handled and beingapplied to materials to be secured. Ordinary safety pins used in fastening theclothing of infants presentv considerable hazard when they are unfastened, handled, or even swallowed. It has been proposed to protect the point of an unlocked safety'pin by providing a-recess in the top of the keeper as shown in the patent issued to Joseph Morley, 2,145,313, dat'dJanuaryBl, -1939,a'nd it'has also been proposed to protect the unlocked-point by a-pivoted keeper orcover as shown inthe p'atent issued to John Rosenquist, 2,089,576, dated August 10, 1937.

It is an object of this invention to provide a guarded safety pin construction in which the pointed end spring biased to an open pin position lies under a protecting flange or shoulder which prevents the point from causing accidental injury.

It is another object of this invention to pro. vide a guarded safety pin construction in which the point guard projects upwardly from the conventional keeper which secures the pointed end in the closed pin position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a guard construction for the pointed end of an open safety pin in which the guard construction is integral with the keeper which secures the pointed end in the closed pin position.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a point guard construction which may be used with safety pins of various forms of spring constructions.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a safety pin embodying our invention, the pin being shown in the closed position and the open pin position being indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of a modified form of safety pin embodying our invention, the pin being shown in the closed position.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the pin shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of the pin shown in Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a plan view of 'anothermodification of a safety pine'mbodying our invention.

Figure 7 is an elevationalview of the pin shown in Figure 6. I

Figure 8 is an end .ele'vational shown in FigureB. I

Figure 9 is an end elevational view of a modified form of safety guard' and keeper construction, with the pin membershownin section and in the open pin position. i

Referring to'the-drfawings for the purposes of illustration, the safety pin shown in Figures 1 and 2 includes a'keeper {[0, a single piece of pin wire having a base portion ll, a curved spring portion i2 and a pin portion i3. The-pin [-3 has a pointed end l4 indicated in dotted'lines in the keeper Ill, and in the open pin position the pin portion l3 takes the dotted line position 13. The keeper it] maybe stamped from sheet metal and includes a lower portion i5 surrounding and firmly gripping the curved end of the base portion ii, the curved end of the latter being indicated in dotted lines in Figure l. The keeper l0 may have an upwardly extending portion ll to guide the point [4 into the channel or groove l8 of the keeper in the closed pin position. The keeper I0 is provided with an upwardly projecting portion or guard member 20 having shoulders 2| at the top thereof. When the pin is in the closed position, as shown in Figure 1, the pointed end M of the portion 13 is seated in the channel [8 of the keeper Hi. When the pin is in the open position, the spring l2 holds the point l4 against the side of the extension 29, just below the underside of a shoulder 21 where the point I6 is guarded or covered against accidental engagement with the skin, fabrics, or other objects. The point is protected by a shoulder 2| regardless of the side to which the point is shifted in opening the pin by moving the point l4 out from the keeper channel It. The spring action of the curved portion I 2 of the pin should hold the point hi just below the underside of a shoulder 2| in the open pin position.

The modification shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 is generally similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 except that the upper portion 25 of the spring wireis provided with one or more loops 26 in planes substantially at right angles to the vertical plane of the pin. The loops 2% serve to provide a desirable spring action between the lower and upper portions of the pin to maintain the point 21 in the keeper 28 in the closed pin position, and to keep the point 2'! against the keeper extension or guard member 39 just be low a shoulder 29 of the keeper extension 38 in the open pin position.

In the modification illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8, the keeper and guard construction is similar to those shown in the preceding figures, and

view of the pin the spring wire 32 is provided with a coiled portion 33 extending at an angle to the vertical plane of the pin. In both the Figure 3 and Figure 7 constructions, the spring coils 26 and 33 serve as stops on the upper pointed leg of the pin to limit the distance to which the pointed end may be inserted through fabric materials or the like.

A safety pin keeper having a modified guard construction is shown in section in Figure 9, wherein the upward extension orv guard member 35 of the keeper 36 is provided with a rolled over upper edge 31 on either one side or the other. The rolled edge 31 provides a protecting cover for the pointed end 14 of the pin I3, 25 or 32 when the in is in the open-pin position. The keeper-36 with the rolled guard edge 3'! may be used with pins of any of the spring forms shown in Figures 1, 3, 7, or the like.

While the keeper and guard constructions illustrated are conveniently formed from sheet metal, they may be formed of molded metal or plastic materials, andthe projecting extension carrying the shoulders 2| or 29 or the curved edge 3'! may be integral with or separate from the keeper members I0, 28, or 36.

Other modifications as well as advantages of our invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will be apparent that many changes in minor details, proportions and design may be carried out with the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A safety pin comprising in combination, a base portion and a pin portion connected together by a loop portion and formed of resilient wire, said pin portion having a pointed free end 4 and being resiliently biased away from said base portion by said loop portion, a keeper secured to said base portion remote from said 100p portion, said keeper having a channel portion spaced from and facing said base portion to receive said pointed end in the closed pin position, a guard member of smooth outline carried by said keeper and projecting therefrom in a direction away from said base portion, and a shoulder at the outer edge of said guard member remote from said keeper engaged by said pointed end in the open pin position to partially cover said pointed end.

2. A safety pin construction as defined in claim 1, said guard member being substantially flat and said shoulder projecting from said guard member edge on both sides thereof.

3. A safety pin construction as defined in claim 1, said guard member having a curved edge remote from said keeper and said shoulder being curved and extending along a portion of said curved edge.

FREDERICK J. VAN DUSEN. THOMAS CYMMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 640,542 De Long Jan. 2, 1900 1,310,587 'Sumersille July 22, 1919 2,145,313 Morley Jan. 31, 1939 2,359,115 Jordan Sept. 26, 1944 2,502,931 Dexter Apr. 4, 1950 

